Could this be your next HMO in Watford?

I was just having a browse on Rightmove to see what’s out there and stumbled across this 3 bed house on Princes Avenue being marketed by the team at Elliots for £369,950.

I seem to be getting asked a lot of questions about this type of property at the moment and whether it can be converted into an HMO.

This house looks like you could get 5 bedrooms out of it which would probably rent for on average £500 per room meaning a rental income of £2,500 and a gross yield of 8.1%.

This does sound better than it is because if you’re serious about HMO’s and you’ve done your homework you will know that you need to cover the council tax and the bills for all tenants, including it in their rent and there is likely to be more maintenance.

With this particular house you would also need to squeeze another bathroom in as 5 tenants can’t share one bathroom but you can do that without having to spend a fortune.

The benefit with hmo’s of course is you mitigate your risk a little and if you have one room void you’re likely to still have 4 paying tenants which means less worrying about paying the mortgage out of your own pocket!

There are plenty of ways to squash tenants into a property and to squeeze as much rent as possible but I believe if you are going to do it then you have to do it right. Abide by the rules and regulations – and there are more for hmo’s than single lets, create a pleasant environment for your sharers, provide quality living accommodation for your tenants and you are far less likely to have the ‘hassle’ lots of people associate with hmo’s.

For more details on the above property go to: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33888663.html